Friday, November 30, 2012

The challenge:We were given the choice of two palettes. The palettes were created by Brandi Hussey and based on pictures from the Earth As Art exhibit from the United States Geological Service taken from the Landsat 7 satellite. To meet the challenge we needed to create something that captures the colors from the chosen palette.Although the other one was more "my colors" I needed a push in another direction so this is the palette I chose.

It's a photo of the Ghadamis River. The caption under the photo reads -"This scar on an arid landscape is the dry riverbed of the Ghadamis River in the Tinrhert Hamada Mountains near Ghadamis, Libya."Okay geography and EVERYTHING related to the school subject "Social Studies" WAS not and IS not my friend. I just made it through those classes so that is all the information I have for you...but eye candy I got!Here is a collage of the bracelet I created. It's a memory wire bracelet and my FIRST. I like it, its colors are a nice mix and I love the look on my arm. I don't usually do orange but this is a subtle shade and I like it, I like it!

Note: See the close-ups of the orangy-yellow bead and the blue beads? Well guess what, they are the SAME bead! Yup it changes color. In yet another picture it was more dark purple. FUNNY it stayed true to the palette even though it couldn't decide what color to be! It's a cameleon bead! (received from my Secret Sister ¤
)

Monday, November 26, 2012

Have you ever heard of Bead Swap-USA? Its a group formed by Nicole Weltch, and is known as the "Home of the Traveling Bead Box". Its a place where people get together and swap beads, charms, findings and finished items. In addition to the themed travelling boxes there are also P2P (person to person) swaps and even RAOK (Random Acts of Kindness) packages. It all adds up to a whole lot of fun, great beads and new friendships!ONE of the many swaps I signed up for is the Secret Sister Swap. Those who are participating are partnered up and then given three dates when secret gifts are to be sent out to the assigned partner, aka Secret Sister.The guidelines state each gift should have a value of $15 to $30. But some people JUST don't follow the rules! MY SECRET SISTER is one of these people!MY SECRET SISTER is crazy and sly, very SLY! She started out buying me a substantial gift certificate to LIMA BEADS. I was blown away when I got the e-mail telling me the news. Since then she has sent me cards upon cards with cute poems and sayings which have really made me smile. They have been a real pick-me-up at a time when things have been a bit rocky - emotionally.

Although I knew there was a second mailing deadline I NEVER expected anything as I felt I have received more than my fair share. So when I went to the post office today to check my mail and there was a package from my SLY SECRET SISTER I was shocked. BUT that shock turned to UTTER shock when I opened the box. My grandson gets excited whenever I get a package so I always let him help open and unpack them. WELL it took us 30 minutes to go through the box. IT was PACKED. All kinds of little surprises packaged in seperate little bags with a note attached to each one. There was a letter enclosed which let me know that my Secret Sister had thought a lot about me and packed each and every piece with me in mind. She "studied" me and found out what I love and tried to include it in the package - AND DID SHE EVER succeed. I love EVERYTHING! Come look at all these goodies...Note: I had to use collages because otherwise I'd have too many images and you would be overwhelmed and seriously jealous!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

7000 Bracelets for Hope™ is a project of Global Genes which collects donations of bracelets and then distributes them to their families fighting rare and genetic diseases.

Why 7000? The number 7,000 represents the 7,000 different rare diseases that impact 1 in 10 people, 30 million Americans and 350 million globally.

Recently our hostess, Sue Kennedy of Sue Beads was contacted by Lisa James
, Manager of
Community Development for Global
Genes/Rare, and asked if she would host a blog hop. She said absolutely and then challenged all her artist friends to join in!

TODAY is the day that we reveal all of our beautiful donations.

Here is mine -

The freshwater pearls and teal blue crystals surround the gorgeous lampwork bead which was created by our very own hostess, Sue Kennedy.

Monday, November 12, 2012

It's reveal day for the 2012 Charm Swap!The 2012 Charm Swap is a really cool event, an annual event spearheaded by the wonderful Jennifer Stout Cameron of Glass Addictions!

Here's how it worked: Bead Artists were challenged to create a charm using the theme of "Laughter". We were broken up into groups of ten artists and asked to each make 11 charms. Ten of the charms were to be exchanged with other members of our assigned group. Jennifer's goal was for us to have fun and get miniature pieces of art from fellow artists. A lovely idea.But her plan for that one remaining charm is the most important part of the challenge. Each of these charms will be auctioned off with all proceeds to benefit Beads
of Courage®.According to their website - "The Beads of Courage® Program is designed to support and strengthen children and families coping with serious illness. Through the program children tell their story using colored beads as meaningful symbols of courage that commemorate milestones they have achieved along their unique treatment path."

Meet one of these precious children -

This is Ryley. Ryley is the grandson of fellow artist Jean Peter. He is three years old. His condition is called Hypo-plastic left heart syndrome. Ryley has had three open heart surgeries, his first when he was only one week old. This photo was taken after his second, when he was around 2 years old. His third surgery was June 2012 and is will hopefully be his last.

Every bead tells a story of strength, honor and hope.

Each child is given the Beads of Courage® bead color guide with a detachable membership card. Their Beads of Courage journey begins when each child is first given a length of string and beads that spell out their first name. Then, colorful beads, each representing a different treatment milestone are given to the child by their professional health care provider to add to their Beads of Courage® collection throughout their treatment.

The
Beads of Courage® Program is currently implemented in over 140 children’s
hospitals throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the
United Kingdom. They support over 30,000 children through their programs.
As we all know, LAUGHTER is the best medicine - so what could be a better theme around which to create our charms ?

Since I spend so-o-o much time on Facebook chatting and sharing with my fellow artists my brain went right to how we communicate laughter online. Smiley faces ":)" and "LOL" are my main internet acronyms. With this in mind I created these polymer clay charms!

Do you like them? I had so much fun making them. BUT I had even more fun opening up the package of charms that I received. The box was chalk full of charm goodee-ness! Each and every one was UNBELIEVABLE! I received nine charms, one from each of my group members. However there are over 40 artists participating in the this swap and auction!

Now that you know more about this great event I hope you will join us at the online auction Monday, November 12 beginning at 3pm EST - ALL proceeds to benefit Beads of Courage® . CLICK HERE to support this effort - and please be generous!

Beads of Courage, Inc. is an approved public charity under
I.R.S. Code Section 501(c)(3), based in Tucson, Arizona.

Forgive me now but I HAVE to go check out all the other designs that I haven't seen yet...join me by following these links!